This is damn personal

By Semperpapa

I am an immigrant! A legal immigrant who came to the United States in 1979 and who applied and took the necessary steps to become a United States citizen as soon as the laws of this country allowed me to.
According to such laws, a legal alien can petition the government for citizenship after the fifth anniversary of taking official legal residence on US soil. The person petitioning for citizenship must have proficiency in the English language, be proficient in civic knowledge and be subjected to a background check.
All these requirements are necessary to insure that the new citizen is the type of individual the country may feel proud of making a citizen.
The waiting period is so that the immigrant can take the time to assimilate into American society and become proficient in the English language.
Knowledge of the form of government he or she will be pledging allegiance to is also important to insure that the person understands the US Constitution, the branches of government and the electoral system he or she will be under.
The background investigation is essential to insure that no person, whose moral standing are questionable, will be imparted the honor of becoming a US citizen.

Many in America take the significance of being a citizen as a joke, especially those who, having been born in this country never had to really think about it twice. Citizenship has been taken for granted.

Now I read this article from the Associated Press about initiatives taken by some states to allow non-citizens to vote. And my objection to it could not be more visceral.

According to the article, in Maine the cause to give the right to vote in local elections to non-citizens will be on the ballot for the Nov. 2 elections. If the residents of liberal Maine will allow the measure to pass, they will join places like San Francisco and Chicago (I know, what a shock!) in giving the right that is exclusive to US citizens to those who prefer to maintain their allegiance to their country of origin.

One of the main voices for the Maine community in favor of allowing non-citizens to vote is a community organizer from Congo, Claude Rwaganje, who has been in the US for 13 years and still has not decided to petition for citizenship. Rwaganje sustains that legal immigrants work and pay taxes, own businesses and their children go to public schools, for which they pay with their taxes. It is therefore only “democratic” that they would be allowed to express their preferences at the ballot box.

This is the new face of America, the one where people feel entitled to privileges without having to work for it.
Yes, legal immigrants pay income taxes from the fruit of the work, but their fiscal responsibilities are not a justification for demanding the right to vote when they have not taken the necessary steps to become citizens. Their taxes are used for all the other benefits they are entitled to, from the dog catcher to our National Defense.
Legal immigrants pay taxes so their children can attend public schools. Considering that in many cases these individuals come from countries where education is practically non-existent unless one is a member of the ruling class, I cannot see the validity of the demand based on that.
Sure, immigrants are business owners, and there again, they should be thankful that they are living in a country that allows them to be owners of a business. In some of the countries they are from, they would not even be allowed to own property.

Another example brought up by the article is that of Abdirizak Daud, a 40 year old Somali man who moved to Portland, Maine, after residing in Minnesota for 18 years. The man’s English is poor and he is unemployed, and he uses these excuses as the reason why he has not petitioned for citizenship. The complaint is that the process is expensive, as it includes official forms filing fees, civic classes and attorney fees. Those are only excuses, as when I became citizen, I only had to pay for the legal filings, I studied on my own time and never had to get a lawyer involved.

Ultimately, my position is that voting is more a civic responsibility than a right. The American people have taken such responsibility for granted even more than the blessing of citizenship, as demonstrated by the percentage of people casting ballots in past elections.
In reality, voting becomes a “right” only after the individual takes the appropriate steps to earn that right. Convicted felons are also not allowed to vote, even after they pay their debt to society. So why should they be prevented from voting? Shouldn't their voice be heard too?
And illegal immigrants should, then, also be allowed to vote, because their pay taxes too every time they go shopping, and their children attend public schools and they clog up the Emergency Rooms across the Nation.

Liberals are all for these “changes” because they are ways to bring more votes into the Democrat’s camp. The Somali man from the article, Mr. Daud, stated that he wants to vote for the Democrats, and possibly his nine children too, regardless of their ages.
Liberals also know very well that the majority of convicted felons tend to vote Democrat, as they have all the interest in seeing a ruling political party soft on crime and personal responsibility running the show.

I wanted to earn the right to vote, but mostly earn the right to call myself a United Stated Citizen.
So I feel these attempts to pervert the laws of our country are a direct insult to me and all the million others that have taken the necessary steps to become a US citizen. I believe deeply that such step taken demonstrates that a person is truly pledging his/her allegiance to the country, renouncing allegiance to any other country and that going through the process is well worth the reward.

Just my thoughts!